VIDEO: Iraqi Forces Get More Gains in Nineveh, Advancing towards Mosul

“Security personnel have liberated Telol al-Baj, and several units have been deployed four kilometers away from the area to prevent the infiltration of vehicles rigged with explosives into the region,” said Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, the commander of Iraq’s counterextremism forces.

He said the Iraqi forces had inflicted heavy losses on the ranks of Daesh (Islamic State, ISIS , ISIL , IS and Daesh) in Telol al-Baj and some other conflict site in Saladin (Salahudin) Province.

Elsewhere, in the western province of al-Anbar, Iraqi security forces retook Halabisa and Albu Alwan areas on the outskirts of Fallujah, located roughly 69 kilometers (43 miles) west of Baghdad, and raised the national Iraqi flag in both regions.

On June 18, Iraqi forces launched an offensive against Daesh militants to retake the southern part of Mosul and the town of Qayyarah, one day after they retook Fallujah.

The forces aim to ultimately recapture the entire Mosul, which Daesh has proclaimed its headquarters in Iraq.